Crying Over A Song
by Hanjay898
Summary: Sydney Roberts is the new kid at Sweet Amoris High, and on her first day of school she runs into three bullies, a cute but slightly annoying student body president, a guy who adores her, and a sarcastic boy she believes she'll get along with brilliantly. But shall she gain that friendship? And if so, will it become something more? Rated T for language, and cause I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

__**_A/N:_ Hey, my account seemed to be messed up for a while, and it wouldn't let me submit any fanfics. Then, due to not logging on, I forgot my password and didn't bother getting a new one :/ But I'm back, and I hope to continue making fanfictions!**

_*BEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEE-*_

I groaned, rolled over in bed and smacked my hand down on my alarm clock. Why did I have to get up so early for school?

Okay, a bit about me. My name is Sydney. I have hair that is just past shoulder length, and is dyed black with blue tips, and blue framing my face. I tend to wear dark clothing and listen to rock music, so people assume I'm emo. Let's get one thing straight. I am _not_ emo. I am a goth. There's a difference. Emo's like black, are fascinated by death, and pretend to listen to good music. Goths like black, are _not_ fascinated by death, and actually _do_ listen to good music. So yeah.

I'm new to this area, I only moved in maybe a week ago due to my parents getting divorced. So I came to live with my aunt.

Back to now...

After I turned off my alarm I turned over again and started to doze off.

"Sydney! Time to get up! Don't you dare go back to sleep on your first day at school!"

Damn it.

"I'm up, I'm up. I'm up!" I yelled back to my aunt.

"There you go. Get dressed, breakfast's ready!"

" 'Kay!"

I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes blearily. Yay...school. Please note the sarcasm. Sighing heavily I pushed myself up off my bed and stumbled over to my closet to pick out my clothes for the day. After rifling through my clothes I finally decided on a red T-shirt with the Winged Skull logo on it. They were an awesome band! Anyway, I chose that shirt, and went with black leggings and my black converse. I walked over to my vanity whilst brushing my hair. Now, I don't usually wear make-up, but today was an exception. I kept it simple though.

Once I'd put on my concealer and foundation I drew on my black eyeliner, top and bottom lids, and a dark purple-y coloured lipstick. I trudged downstairs to see my aunt standing at the frying pan.

"Rolls and bacon alright with you?" she asked, smiling slightly.

"Yep! When would I _not_ be okay with bacon?" I replied, immediately brightening up a little.

"Good point."

I sat at the table and pulled my plate across the table towards me, dividing up my bacon so I could have two rolls. I glanced at the clock and stood up, one roll of bacon in my hand, the other hanging out my mouth.

"Mm mnna mmd mph fow fo mm cmm fnmph phe phool." I mumbled around my food.

"What? Honey, I can't understand you." Aunt laughed.

"I'm gonna head off now so I can find the school," I repeated once I'd taken the roll out my mouth again. I then stuffed my face again.

"Alright, hun. See you this afternoon."

"Mmhmm." I agreed.

I pulled on my new hoodie. It was long, reaching my knees, and had one of the large hoods, the ones you could fit about three heads in. I loved it, and it was from my favourite shop, Hot Topic. There was a large grey skull on the front, both the inside of the hood and near the bottom of the front (where the pockets were) were striped with white stripes, and the brand was Abbey Dawn. Although I had only gotten it the day before it was already my favourite coat.

I grabbed my backpack, slung it over my shoulder and headed up to my room. Upon entering I picked up my acoustic guitar (which was in a guitar case) and pulled it up over my other shoulder, holding on tightly to the case strap. I went back downstairs and suddenly remembered: I forgot to feed Max! Most people thought Max was male due to the name, but she's female. And _she_ was my Husky. I loved her to bits. I walked into the spare room where she usually rested in the mornings and petted her softly to wake her up.

"There's a good girl," I crooned gently. "Come on, we'll go get you some breakfast, huh girl? Come on, Max." I stood up from my crouching position and walked off, patting my leg to signal for her to follow me.

"Aunt, Max needs breakfast, is there any extra bacon?"

"Yes, hun, it's in the microwave. I was going to reheat it for you when you got back from school."

"Well I'm just gonna have to go without. Here you go, Max." I pulled the plate out of the microwave and placed it on the floor for her, and she stuck her face right in it.

"Well, I'm off. Bye, Auntie!" I waved and opened the door, squaring my shoulders and preparing myself for the upcoming day. _Here we go..._ I thought.

I pulled out my iPod, put in my headphones and switched it on, smiling as Winged Skull came on. I headed off in what I hoped was the direction of the school, quietly humming along to the music.


	2. Chapter 2

_Finally..._I thought to myself. By the time I'd found the school it was around... I don't know. It was about half an hour before lunch, I think. I sighed in relief and made my way into the school and accidentally bumped into a plump woman with silvery hair and dark glasses.

"Sorry, miss." I said. I bent down and gathered up her books and papers before handing them to her.

"Oh, that's quite alright dear. I don't mean to be rude, but I don't recognise you. Are you the new student here at Sweet Amoris High? I'll be your principal here." she asked, peeking over her specs.

"Yes, I'm Sydney Roberts, miss. Um...excuse me, but where do I go to get my timetable and such?"

"Just go to the Student Council room and ask for Nathaniel. He is the student body president, so he'll deal with all that."

"Thank you, miss." I nodded my head and walked past her towards the Student Council room.

When I opened the door I peeped my head into the room and asked quietly, "Is Nathaniel here?"

"I'm here. Why, what's the problem? And shouldn't you be in class?" A boy with golden eyes and hair approached me, looking concerned.

"I'm Sydney Roberts, the new girl?" I replied uncertainly.

"Oh yes, that's right. Can I see your forms please?" He held out his hand, waiting.

"Sorry, two seconds." I dropped my bag on the ground and placed my guitar case next to it. I then crouched down and started rummaging in my bag before I triumphantly held up the forms. "Found them!"

He took them from my hand and leafed through them. Everything seems to be here, except...Except your main enrolment form and your ID photo. I'm afraid you can't start here until you hand them in."

"Are you sure? I handed my enrolment form in earlier at the school office. I checked everything myself, maybe the form has been mixed up with some other papers?" I asked worriedly. I have to be able to start here, I have to!

"Okay, I'll check, but I still need your ID photo." he told me.

"Okay! I'll go find somewhere I can have one taken now." I turned and left. I started down the halls when I bumped into someone else. Someone I recognised.

"Sydney! Hi!" I heard and overenthusiastic greeting come from the boy.

"...Ken?! What're you doing here?" I asked. Ken went to my old school, and he seemed to have a major crush on me. The last time I saw him was before the summer vacation. God, he used to follow me around everywhere, and believe me it was hard to shake him off your tail.

"Surprised, huh? I heard you moved school, so I transferred here too!" he said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Uh...that's great, but I've got to go..." I said quietly, inching towards the courtyard.

"Oh, okay. I'll see you later then!"

"Uhm...yeah, sure." I managed to get away, and I continued out into the courtyard. I pulled out my iPod again, turned it on and stuffed my headphones back into my ears, smiling as another Winged Skull song came on. I zipped up my hoodie and pulled up my hood, closing my eyes as I enjoyed the song before I started on my way to find somewhere I could get my photo taken for my ID. My humming was cut short as I walked head first into a wall. I'd misjudged where the edge of the steps were and had went straight into the wall at the side of them. I backed up a couple steps and rubbed my head, glaring at the wall for a second. I then proceeded to erupt into a fit of giggles, hitting my head. _I'm such a doughnut. _I made my way up the stairs this time, and after a few minutes of walking I found a dollar store.

_Hn, at my last town the dollar store would do ID photos, maybe this place does too._

I opened the door, hearing a _Ting!_ as the bell went, and trudged up to the counter. There was an oldish man behind it.

"Hello, do you do ID photos?" I asked politely.

"Why yes, we do. They cost $10." he replied.

"Thank you. May I get one now?"

"Of course! Follow me." He ushered me into a smaller separate room.

"Sit here," he said and pointed at a chair. I sat down and pulled down my hood.

He moved behind the camera. "Say cheese!"

I smiled and the flash went off, almost blinding me.

"All done. Just give me a minute or two to get the photo printed off for you."

"Thanks." I followed him back through into the main store, and waited whilst he printed out the picture. When he was finished I thanked him again, handed over the money, collected the picture and headed back out of the store, pulling up my hood and switching on my iPod again. I looked at my iPod and decided I wanted to just listen to the whole Winged Skull album.

**.:*:.:*:.:*:.:*:.**

When I reached the school I walked towards the Student Council room, and, noticing that Nathaniel was still there, I handed over my ID photo.

"Oh hey, Nathaniel. Did you find my enrolment form? Also, that's my ID photo, and another thing. My aunt mentioned something about enrolment fees?" I asked him.

"Oh, Sydney. Yes, I found your form. Sorry, my bad. Thanks for the photo, and the fees are $25." he answered.

"Okay, I have the money on me just now, and it's okay, you never meant to get my form mixed up in other paperwork."

"Well, if you see the principal you'll need to give her your form and your fees, so you better keep hold of that money and take this." He gave me my form and smiled at me.

" 'Kay, thanks!" I smiled back and closed the door on the way out. Fortunately enough, the principal was on her way down the hall.

"Miss, I have my form and my fees. Nathaniel told me to give them to you." I placed them in her hands.

"Oh, dear could you find a paperclip to keep these together? Thank you." She gave them back.

As I wandered the halls I spotted an empty classroom and I opened the door. There was a paperclip on the table! Yes! I grabbed it and went on my way back to where I'd last seen the principal. She was still there, looking through some other forms.

"I found a paperclip, miss." I clipped my papers together and once again handed them over. She glanced at them then smiled at me.

"Well, Sydney, welcome to Sweet Amoris High."


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N:_ Sorry this chapter is so short, I had to edit it quite a bit, but I couldn't think of anything to add to it afterwards.**

**_Disclaimer:_ I do not own the song mentioned in this chapter, it is owned by Owl City.**_  
_

_*BRRRIIIINNNNGGG!*_

"Oh, that's the lunch bell. If you go get your timetable from Nathaniel I won't make you go to any classes today, seeing as it's so late in the day. But stick around and find your way about the school so you're prepared for tomorrow." said the principal.

"Alright, thanks." I opened the door to the Student Council room _again_ and asked Nathaniel for my timetable.

"Here you go. It's got all your classes and the room numbers on it."

"Thank you!" I called over my shoulder. I made my way out to the courtyard and sat down on a bench under a tree. After a few minutes I unzipped my guitar case and pulled out my acoustic guitar. The song I chose was 'Vanilla Twilight' by Owl City. The song was very important to me and it had a hidden meaning to me.

I slowed my strumming, eventually stopping. It was silent and peaceful until I heard a loud, nasty sounding voice.

"Hah! Look at the little emo under the tree, sitting crying over a song!"

As I looked up I felt anger pulsing through my veins and my blood was boiling. As I stared at the person who was stupid enough to insult me I opened my mouth to say...


	4. Chapter 4

"Shut up!" I whispered. "Shut _up_!" I repeated, yelling this time. I stared at the blonde girl, my eyes full of hatred.

"Aww, is the little emo sad? The poor baby." she said, putting on a babyish voice.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me. You don't have the right to make comments about things like that. And I am _not_ emo."

"Ah, but I do know things about you, Sydney. I know that nobody loves you. It was your fault your little sister died, right? Or, that's how your parents feel. They hate you now, don't they? They never loved you. That's why they left you. Your sister hated you too. That's why she died. She'd do anything to get away from someone like you. Because nobody likes a little emo loner like you." she sneered.

_Flashback_

_Angel was lying there, so frail in her hospital bed. I felt her hand wrapped tightly round mine, saw her big round eyes filling with tears as she looked at me._

"_It's not good is it? I'm going to go see Grandma and Grandpa, aren't I?" she asked me._

_Oh, Angel. Only eight yet so observant. So smart._

_The doctors told Mum, Dad and I earlier that Angel's Cancer had gotten worse and that it didn't look good._

"_I don't know, Angel." I lied. "I don't know."_

_For the next few days I wouldn't leave her side. Even at night when I was told I should leave I lay down on the floor next to her bed and used my coat as a pillow. I was there when she passed._

_My parents put up with me for a month until one day I woke up and they were gone. They'd left me a note explaining their absence._

Sydney,

We're sorry, hun. We're sorry we've left you. We just can't handle the pain any more. You look too much like her, you remind us of her all the time. You make it so the pain never goes away. We can't put up with it. Pack your bags. We phoned your Aunt to ask her if you can stay with her. She'll be here by the afternoon. We're sorry.

Signed, Mum and Dad.

_End Flashback_

After that I died my golden curls black and blue, straightened them constantly,and changed my wardrobe from bright and happy to dark and sorta depressing.

I glared at the awful rhymes-with-witch in front of me, new tears flowing down my cheeks.

"Take that back!" I screamed at her. "You take that back..." I felt a hand on the back of my shoulders push me forward roughly and I landed on my knees.

"Thank you, Li," said the blonde girl.

"Hah! No problem, Amber. We gotta teach this kid a lesson."

"Li?" Amber asked sweetly. "Shut up." She then directed her attention back to me. "So, emo. How do you feel knowing that if it wasn't for you your parents and your sister would be living happily ever after, as a family of _three_."

From my position on the ground on my hands and knees I shakily shot her the bird.

"Don't you insult me, _dog_!" she snarled. She then kicked me in the ribs, making me fall on my side.

I stood up quickly. Something in me just snapped.

"Don't speak to me like that! You're no better, you b****!" I shouted.

Her hand came up quickly and connected with my face with a resounding _Slap!_ and I slowly pressed my hand to my cheek. My eyes blazed with fury as I reached over, grabbed a piece of skin on her shoulder, near her neck, and twisted. This was a sort of pressure point thing that caused a lot of pain.

"Ow! Let go of me, Emo!"

I moved my face very close to hers so that our noses almost touched and looked her straight in the eye.

"I am not an emo. You say one more thing about my sister, you annoy me – no, annoy anyone at this school – I will hurt you. Very badly." I twisted her skin harder to prove my point. I then let go and she went running off with her friends in the direction of the school. I noticed how silent it was until a sharp disgusted voice cut through the air.

"She's so pathetic."

I spun round to see a guy with scarlet hair and deep grey eyes. He was really tall – around 6 feet maybe? But now his eyes turned to me.

"Yeah, pathetic and nasty. It's because of girls like that I got kicked out my last school." I replied, wrinkling my nose.

Oh, yeah. After Angel passed away I started – ahem – standing up for myself at school. Which actually meant beating up any girl _or_ guy who p***ed me off. So I ended up getting expelled, therefore causing me to be at home a lot more so my parents saw me constantly. Just FYI.

"You got kicked out?" he asked me. He looked at me curiously.

"Yup. Got kicked out for fighting. And verbal abuse." I told him, smiling a little.

He smirked. "Sounds like my kinda girl."

"Pfft!" I scoffed. I thought for a second before adding, "I'm Sydney."

"Well, _Sid_, I'm Castiel."

I grinned. "Nice to meet you, _Cas_.

Our conversation was cut short when a loud, angry voice split through the air. "Sydney Roberts!"

I closed one eye. "_Here_ we go..." I muttered. I turned to see Nathaniel stalking across the courtyard towards me.

"How _dare_ you _threaten_ a girl, and deliberately hurt her?" he spat.

"Because she was being an a**!" I answered, using the same tone he did.

"You will not speak to your student body president like that! But how dare you do that to an innocent?!"

I snorted. "_Innocent?_ Pfft, honey, if she's innocent then I'm the Queen of Sheba."

"Whatever are you talking about?"

"Yeah, sure she's innocent. If you call insulting someone, bringing up their old horrible memories, slapping them and kicking them _innocent_. Then yes, by all means, she is innocent."

"What? Amber would never do something like that." he told me seriously.

I heard a quiet disbelieving laugh come from behind me. Castiel walked forward until he was beside me. "Really?" he asked Nathaniel. " 'Cause I've just seen her. And so has everyone in the courtyard. Trust me, Nat. She'd do it."

"Oh, and Nat? Just 'cause you're student body president, and just 'cause you're a guy, that doesn't mean to say I won't kick your sorry butt from here 'till next week if you try to tell me again that Amber is innocent. And considering you've read my file you'll know I really would do it."

"Uh..erm..yes! Well, I apologize for not getting both sides of the story first, Sydney." he stuttered and walked off, his face the colour of Castiel's hair.

"Like I said," Cas began, "My kinda girl."


	5. Chapter 5

"Whatever." I grinned at Cas. Had I made a friend already? Wow, personal record! As I bent down to zip my guitar in my case I felt a tap on the back of the head. Yes, head. He didn't even tap me on the shoulder. I finished zipping up the case and slung it and my bag over my shoulders and stood up. "Yes?"

"I liked your playing. It was good. Same for your singing." he told me.

"Uh...thanks." I felt myself blush. Other than my Aunt, nobody had ever really praised me on either of those things. Except...except Angel.

"Well, I don't care what the principal says, I'm not sticking around. Who'd want to stay in a school when they don't need to?"

"Really? Well, before you go, how would you like to see someplace cool?" he asked me.

"Oh yeah? And just where would this cool place be?" I replied.

He smirked and held out his finger, and dangling from it was a set of keys.

I grinned mischievously. "You're not supposed to have them, are you?"

He smiled back, a glint in his eye showing some sort of emotion. Not quite evil, but not quite mischievous. A weird mix of the two. "Maybe..." he said, letting his voice tail off at the end.

"Well, I'm guessing not, then."

"You got a problem with that?" he challenged.

"What? H*** no! I told you, I've been expelled for fighting and verbal abuse, do you seriously think stolen keys would bother me?"

"Okay, good point." He grabbed my hand and pulled me down several corridors, eventually stopping at a door.

"So, what's so special about this door?" I questioned, my head tilted slightly.

"It's not the door that's special, it's what's behind it." He smirked. Again.

"Smart a**..." I muttered.

Castiel unlocked the door and pushed it open, revealing what was behind it. The roof!

"Wow...gorgeous!" I breathed, staring at all the lights in the houses and stores in the city.

"Yeah, I know, right? But what about the city?" He asked me sarcastically.

"Okay, you get a point." I murmured in defeat.

Cas looked surprised then smug. "Did you just say I've got a point? As in you admit I'm gorgeous?"

"Hah!" I laughed. "No, I said you _get_ a point, not you've _got_ a point. You get a point as in scores."

"Right."

We lay there on the roof, chatting for a while, but every time the subject of parents came up we both sort of dodged. Whenever he asked me, I told him the old story that they were getting divorced and that I didn't want to bee caught in the middle so I moved in with my aunt. Now, some of you may be confused as I first told you this story, and then you figured out that my parents actually left me. The latter of the two is the true one, but how could I tell people that? So I just made up some cr** about a divorce.

Somewhere in the middle of all the talking I decided I was too warm. I sat up, unzipped my hoodie and pulled it off, showing my Winged Skull shirt. I had turned back to Castiel so we could keep talking but his eyes had widened a little.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"You listen to Winged Skull too?" He looked kinda stunned.

"Uh, _yeah_. They're cool!" I replied in a 'duh' tone.

"Yeah, I just never knew a girl who liked them before."

"Well, now you do." I smiled at him, and he grinned back.

But anyway...

I checked my watch and sighed, realising I had better head home so I could be in time for dinner. Plus, I could see Max! I'd missed her a lot, but at least I'd met someone I'd consider a friend.

"I gotta go, sorry. It was really cool coming up here and just hanging out. Thanks for showing me this place." I scanned the rooftops around us one last time, memorising what it looked like so I could remember the complete awe I felt when I saw it, and the pure beauty of the sight.

"Me too, actually." Cas told me after glancing at his own watch.

We picked ourselves up and I pulled on my hoodie before slinging my bag and case over my shoulders. Castiel picked up his own bag and we walked out the school in a companionable silence.

After we'd walked a few streets together Cas stopped and stared at me.

"I know it was fun and all, but would you stop following me? I feel like I've got a stalker."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, mate. I live this way too, so you just gotta suck it up till we split up."

He stopped at a house and my eyes widened a bit. "Well, looks like I'll be seeing a lot of you then..." I told him.

"What do you mean?" The confused look on his face made him look almost cute – I-I mean, weak. Yeah, it made him look weak...

By way of answer I pointed behind me with my thumb. "Hey, neighbour. See you tomorrow."

I grinned and walked up the path to my house, ignoring the stare I felt was directed at my head.

**Castiel's POV**

I watched her as she made her way along the pathway that led to her front door. Neighbour, huh? Nice. Finally I have a neighbour I like and can talk to. No, wait, scratch that. Finally I have a _friend_. I finally have a true friend who likes me for me and not just 'cause they think I'll protect them. Yet Sid...she's different. She seems to be quite like me – sarcastic, cheeky, yet nice deep down, can get violent. But then she's different too – she's beautiful yet broken, full of energy yet not always willing to go on. She made my life better already, and I'd only known her for a few hours. I think school will certainly be interesting tomorrow...


	6. Chapter 6

**Sydney's POV**

"Hi, Aunt. What's for dinner?" I asked as soon as I stepped foot into the living room.

"Sydney Valerie Roberts, who was that boy?!" she screamed, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Wh-what?" I asked. I felt my eyes widen and my face took on an expression of fear and confusion.

"Who was that boy I've just seen you walking home with?! You are 16, you are not old enough to be getting boyfriends!"

"What? No! He's not my _boyfriend_!" I replied, my voice full of shock.

"Don't you lie to me, Missy! You've only been at school a day and you've already went off and gotten yourself a boy!"

"Aunt. Aunt. _Aunt!_ He's not my boyfriend, his name is Castiel and he's the guy who lives next door. We're friends, yeah, but nothing more. We just lost track of time when chatting and then we walked home. Okay?!"

She smiled at me. "Good. Now go invite him over."

"Oka- wait...what?" I stopped short. What was wrong with this woman? First she' yelling at me about how I shouldn't be walking home with him then she's smiling and telling me to invite him over?

"I only shouted at you because I wanted to know if I could trust you if you wanted to invite over a boy. And seeing as You two already seem to be good friends, why not invite Castiel over?"

"Fine. You sure that's okay?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yes, yes. Now hurry up before he starts his own dinner." She began making 'shoo-ing' motions with her hands.

"Okay, Okay!"

I went out the door and turned up the path to Castiel's door. I gave three short knocks.

I waited. And waited.

I knocked again.

No answer.

And again.

Same f***ing result.

I began knocking very loudly non-stop.

"P*** off!" Oh, how charming.

"Oi, Red-Head!" I yelled whilst continuing knocking. Two seconds later I found myself knocking on Cas' chest.

"Yes? What the h*** do you want?" he asked.

"My aunt was wondering if you'd want to stay for dinner." I told him.

"Well tell your aunt she can shove it." he grumbled. Lovely. He was just about to close the door when I jammed my foot in it, stopping it from completely shutting.

_Oh, f***ing s*** that hurt!_

"Wait! Um...well...let me rephrase that invitation." He opened his mouth to decline again but I cut him off. "_I_ was wondering if you'd want to stay for dinner."

He seemed to consider it for a second then looked down at me. I smiled

"No." he said flatly.

"Oh, okay. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow then?" I asked. Oh God, even I could hear the disappointment in my voice.

"Don't know. Bye, I'm going to put dinner on." And with that he closed the door. I stood there for a minute, trying to compose myself. I walked back into my aunt's, poked my head in the kitchen, muttered, "He said no," and went straight up to my room. I collapsed on my bed.

_Why am I so upset? I never really wanted him over in the first place!_

Argh! I don't know!

**Castiel's POV**

Okay, now I feel guilty. I mean, she was supposed to be my friend, and on the first day of our friendship I had to go and disappoint her. I sighed and headed up to my room, Flopping down on my bed. Demon, my dog, padded in and jumped up next to me, whimpering.

"There's a good boy." I murmured, looking out my window as I petted him behind the ears. Big mistake. My window looked in on Siddy's room, and I saw her lying on her bed looking miserable. A large Husky was nuzzling her hand. I quickly stood up and made a decision.

Striding over to my window I pulled my curtains shut. I got changed into a clean black shirt, fresh black jeans, my leather jacket and my black shoes. I then moved over and climbedout of my window before stepping across to Sid's windowsill. I tapped the glass three times and she looked up.

"Sidders! You better have something better to wear."

I heard her sniff and barely caught her words through the window. "What? Why?"

I grinned. "Because I'm hungry, and I'm not sitting on your windowsill to wait for you aunt to cook me my dinner."

She must've really been wanting me to come over because her face lit up like a Christmas tree. She ran downstairs, presumably to tell her aunt that I was coming over. I moved back into my room but stayed at my window so she could see I hadn't just b*****ed off. When she appeared at her doorway I leaned on the ledge and grinned at her. She beamed back and closed her curtains so she could change without having a peeping tom. I snickered at the thought.

**Sydney's POV**

_He's coming, he's coming, he's coming!_

What will I wear? Why am I even worrying about this?

I rifled through the clothes in my closet. Although I'd thrown out most of my bright-ish clothes and my dresses, I still had some...nah. He liked what I was wearing today and that wasn't very bright, now was it?

After about ten minutes of deciding I went with a tight black sweater and a black pleated mini skirt. I pulled on my white knee high socks and shoved my black flats on my feet. The flats had a small electric blue bow on each shoe. I smiled to myself.

_I finally have a true friend who likes me for me and not just 'cause they think I'll protect them._


	7. Chapter 7

**Sydney's POV**

I nipped downstairs and into the kitchen only to see Aunt standing over a pot.

"Aunt? What_ are_ we having for dinner?"

"Oh, we're having spaghetti bolognese." she answered.

_*DINGDONG!*_

I ran to the door, stopped and smoothed myself down, and opened the door.

Castiel was dressed fairly simple: black shirt, black jeans, black shoes, and (of course) his trademark leather jacket. It actually looked really good, and it made his red hair stand out even more than usual.

"Hey," I greeted shyly.

He smirked. "Hey. So what's for dinner?"

Okay, so that made me laugh a little. He hadn't even stepped foot inside the house yet he's already asking about food. "Spaghetti, that okay with you?" I asked him sarcastically.

He mock sighed. "Just need to be, I guess. So can I come in?"

"I suppose."

He smiled and I froze slightly. I loved his smile, he always looked so different from his usual looks – smirking (a.k.a. cocky, much?) or frowning (yeah, that just sort of said, for lack of a better term, f*** off).

"You should smile more, you know that? You've got a really nice smile, but nobody really gets to see it." _Argh! I can't believe I just said that! That totally makes it sound like I'm crushing on him!_

He responded by smiling again, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"So are you coming in, or what?" I asked, holding the door open.

"Yeah, yeah." Cas walked in and waited for me to lead. I admit I felt a little confused. _Isn't my house the same layout as his, just backwards?_

"What? Aren't you gonna go first?" he asked.

"Don't you know your way around, though? 'Cause of your house?" The confused expression must've been shown clearly on my face because he sighed.

"It's rude to go first when you're a guest at someone else's." Castiel told me. I laughed and he shot me a weird look.

"Not when it's your friend's house! I mean, yeah you don't go first at someone else's house, but if it's your _friend's_, well that's a different story." I explained.

The side of his mouth quirked up and I grinned.

"Well, fine then, _friend_." Castiel headed off in the direction of the kitchen. "Good evening ma'm." I heard him say.

I couldn't help it. I snorted and started giggling. This time both Castiel and my Aunt turned to me, looking at me strangely.

"Two things. One, Aunt is so _not_ a ''ma'm''. This is a woman who wakes you up by yelling right in your ear usually, or hits you on the back of the head then runs off giggling to herself. Two, you don't have to be so formal and polite, Cas. 'Cause you and I both know you're not either of them."

"Good point..." Castiel said. He smirked. "But really, do you_ want_ me to lapse into my usual ''potty mouth'' as it is known?"

"Okay, no. But act a bit more like yourself. Really."

"Dinner's ready anyway. Come on! We'll eat it on the dining table in the living room instead of this tiny one." Aunt told us, gesturing to the small, round kitchen table that we usually eat at.

I grabbed the pot whilst Aunt reached up for the three plates and inhaled deeply. Oh it smelled delicious! Castiel looked at me, then the pot, then back to me with a look on his face that clearly said, _what the h*** are you doing? You look like a moron..._. I simply smiled and held the food under his nose, watching as his eyes closed in bliss. Silently I pulled out my iPod and snapped a photo of him, making sure the pot wasn't in the picture. His eyes opened suddenly and swivelled round to me as I studied the picture. His eyes were closed and his mouth was turned up in a small smile. He looked so peaceful in it. I decided I was going to keep it. It'd be the only time I'd see him like that again.

I was yanked out of my thoughts as I heard a very soft growl. "Max? Max what's up?" I asked. Then I realised – it wasn't Max, Castiel had growled quietly in his throat._ Oh, f***!_

I backed off slowly and put the pot on the counter behind me. Then, I ran as fast as I could _past_ him. I had an idea that he would expect me to run away from him, not past him, and I was right. He stood there confused for a second before running after me, shouting.

"You better give me that iPod! You'll give me it if you want to_ live_!" he screamed.

I simply laughed and darted up the stairs. "No way!" I shoot through my bedroom door, closed it and locked it. Yes, I have a lock on my door. I leaned against the locked door for a few minutes, controlling my breathing. I don't know why I was breathing so hard. It wasn't like I was out of breath. I'm in shape, and the very short run was nothing.

All was silent on the other side of my door, so I cautiously unlocked it and opened it a crack. I looked out. Nothing. I opened it more and was suddenly shoved backwards towards my bed by a large, heavy object.

I squeaked and hit Castiel on the back. No reaction. I tried the back of his head. Still no reaction. I then slapped his back as hard as I could, and believe me I'm strong.

"Ow." Cas said, rubbing his back. I grinned and tried to struggle from his grip."_Oh_ no. You're not getting away _that_ easy. I'm still getting that iPod!"

"No! Argh, get off me, you big lump! Argh!" I said. I squirmed about, and at one point I managed to get away but he grabbed me and pulled me back down on my bed. He grabbed my iPod.

"Give it back!" I yelled.

"Meh, this picture is so getting deleted," he said, his finger hovering over the button.

"No, don't. Please." I begged.

"Why not?" Castiel turned to me. His eyes showed he was genuinely wondering why I'd want to keep the picture so bad.

"Because. I want to keep it, 'cause you're never that peaceful or happy. And I want to be able to see you like that again, but I'll never actually get that from you. So why not get it from a photo of you?" I told him. I blushed as I said it, though.

His eyes softened. "Nobody's ever really cared about me being happy. The only thing they care about is whether I'm in a bad mood so they know to avoid me."

He tossed me my iPod.

"Thank you."

He simply smiled a little.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Some people have been mentioning that there hasn't been many updates. The reason for this is that I have school, and I find that Friday nights are the best time for me to check my reviews and post new chapters seeing as any homework I don't finish that night I can do during the weekend. So I'm sorry if it seems like a while between chapters, but I'm trying my best to update weekly at least! :)**

**Castiel's POV**

"Because. I want to keep it, 'cause you're never that peaceful or happy. And I want to be able to see you like that again, but I'll never actually get that from you. So why not get it from a photo of you?" Sydney blushed as she told me.

I felt surprised. No one cares about that with me. They all seem to be scared of me, feel I'm just a punk who beats everyone up. But not her...

"Nobody's ever really cared about me being happy. The only thing they care about me is whether

I'm in a bad mood so they know to avoid me." I said. I felt my eyes soften slightly. I threw the iPod to her and was rewarded with a soft, "Thank you." I smiled slightly, but inside I was in total shock.

Nobody's ever cared about me, not even my own parents. But now, now a girl seems to care about me. And even I had to admit that the said girl was beautiful. I looked down at her deep eyes, the colour of which almost matching my own. They were darker, almost black, and they were shining constantly. Although, twice they'd been shining with tears, but I tried not to dwell on that. I'd thought about it several times that day, and each time made me feel anger towards Amber, and guilt because I myself had made her upset too. But she seems to be happy now, and she likes me enough to call me her friend.

"Now, now children. No giggling when you're upstairs." Sid's aunt called from downstairs. I could practically see her winking.

I glanced at Sid, and when I saw she'd blushed again I started to laugh.

_I've not laughed properly in years! I've not actually laughed. Nobody could get me to, but now Sydney has...interesting..._

"Come on, we gotta go downstairs so we can have dinner." I held out my hand to help her up.

"Thanks." She grinned mischievously. "Last one there's a rotten egg!" she yelled. Just as she started to run I said, "Woah, woah, woah. That's a little childish, don't you think. It should be ''Last one there is servant for a day!''" I shouted, charging off past her.

"Hey! No fair, I wasn't ready!" she laughed, and thumped after me. We bolted down the stairs, skidding round corners.

I abruptly stopped and grabbed hold of one of the chairs at the dining table in the living room and triumphantly cried, "I win, I win!"

"No!" she screamed dramatically.

I sat down in the seat I was holding. "Sit down, slave. You are free to do as you wish. I shall make you official slave tomorrow, since that would be a full day. Today you are out of my control." I said, laughing at the end. Her aunt looked at me with a strange expression. It was a sort of _What the __f***?_ cross _Haha, you're funny_ cross _Don't you touch my baby_ look.

Oh boy. If she was going to be so protective of Siddy all night, then it's gonna be a _long_ night.

**Sydney's POV**

D*** it he won.

After his whole rant about how I'd be his slave tomorrow I spotted the look Aunt gave him. I sighed. Although I nearly snorted at Cas' sort of fed up expression.

"Aunt? I'm not a kid. We're friends, nothing more." I said slowly, trying to get her to get the picture.

"I know you're not, honey. And I know you're just friends, why do you say that?" she asked.

"Your expression is a little _too_ protective." I told her gently.

"I'm sorry. Old habits die hard, hun." She smiled apologetically.

I turned to Castiel. He grinned, a glint in his eye. _Oh no, what have I done?_

"Dig in!" I said happily, and took a plateful of spag bol. _Oh, nummy..._ I thought as I took my first forkful of the mouthwatering food. I glanced at Cas, and he had the same look as he had in the pic. I smiled to myself. I considered taking another one, but he opened his eyes and looked at me, feeling my gaze. I felt myself blush. Again. _Ugh, you twit! Why'd you blush! You still look like you're crushing on him!_

When we were all about halfway through our platefuls – well, I was nearly finished. What? I get hungry! - I looked at Castiel.

"Cas?"

He looked up, a long piece of pasta hanging from his mouth and down his chin.

"Pfft!" I snorted. He...he actually _blushed_? Woah!

"Uh...well we always have a load of food left over, do you want me to put in in a tub so you could reheat it for a snack or dinner?" I asked him.

"Sure, if that's okay."

We turned to Aunt.

"Well, fine by me anyhow."

"Thanks," he said gratefully. I got the feeling that he wasn't used to having proper home cooked meals.

Once we finished I went and got a microwavable tub. I dumped the extra spaghetti in it and sealed the lid shut. When I handed him the tub, our hands touched for a split second. His hands were weirdly warm.

_Shut up, that sounds kinda creepy!_ I scolded myself.

"Thanks again. And I guess I better get going so I can feed Demon." he muttered.

"No problem. I gotta feed Max, too. She's been quiet tonight, but she should get used to you after a while."

I walked him to the door where we stopped, him outside, me inside.

"Well...I'll see you tomorrow, then?" he asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah. Walk with you?" I said shyly.

"Sure. I'll shout up to your window when I'm ready to walk." he agreed.

"Okay." Feeling _really_ shy and _really_ awkward, I lowered my head and gave him a peck on the cheek. I don't know why, I didn't know what to do when saying goodbye to a friend! The only friend I'd ever had before was my sister, Angel.

We both blushed and said goodbye. I closed the door, made my way up to my room and logged on my computer. I couldn't wait till tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Now that I actually have the time, I just want to say this: THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! THANK YOU SO MUCH! :P I really appreciate it, and I'd just like to say that I'm glad a few of you seem to be enjoying it so far.**

**Sydney's POV**

I logged on to Facebook and opened another tab. I went on youtube and started listening to Falling In Reverse's song ''The Drug In Me Is You''. After the song began I looked at my tabs again and saw I had a small (1) on my Facebook tab. _Hm, is this another game request? I sure hope not._ I hated those game requests, I always ignored them but the amount I got just really annoyed me. I clicked on the tab, and my Facebook page opened. _Ooh, it's a friend request, not a notification. Who could it be?_ I wondered to myself.

I clicked on the Friend Request button, and the person's name popped up.

**Castiel Argent** _0 mutual friend(s)_

I clicked the 'accept' button. I was going to go on chat with him, but he was offline...Bummer.

"Sydney, what time are you getting up at in the morning?" I heard a muffled voice. It sounded like...Cas? I spun on my desk chair so I could see out my window. I spotted Cas leaning over on the ledge of his. I moved toward my window and opened it, shivering as the cool air hit my exposed arms.

"Uh...I don't know...I do know that I should be ready by around 7:10 at the earliest, 7:30 at the latest."

"Okay, I'll shout up to you at 7:10 then. What if you're not ready?" he asked.

"Come to the door. Aunt will answer it. If you tell her I told you to come in if I wasn't quite ready yet she should let you in."

" 'Kay."

I looked at my clock. It read eight pm, so I figured it would be a good time to get changed into my pyjamas. "Two minutes!" I said to him. I closed my curtains and snatched my Pjs from under my pillow. They consisted of: grey sweat pants and a green tank top. I shoved them on and pulled my black hoodie (a normal, basic hoodie, not my new Abbey Dawn one) from my closet door. Opening my curtains again I saw that Castiel had closed his. A few moments later, however, he opened them again. He was now wearing a black wifebeater and black sweat pants.

After about an hour of talking I looked back at my computer. My Facebook tab had another small (1) on it. Castiel saw me glance at it, and when I turned round to ask him if he could excuse me for a moment he nodded before I could open my mouth.

I sat at my computer and clicked the tab.

_Another friend request? Wow, I'm just Little Miss Popular today!_ I thought sarcastically. I clicked the button, letting the name pop up below.

**Iris Martin** _1 mutual friend(s)_

I clicked accept. I'd met her briefly today. I actually bumped into her, and we introduced ourselves before she went flying off somewhere. I noticed she was online. A message immediately popped up on-screen.

**Iris: Hey, Sydney :) what you up to?**

I quickly typed out a reply.

**Sydney: Talking to Castiel, you?**

_Ping!_ That girl types fast!

**Iris: Castiel?! But it's half past 9! Is he at your house?! Spill! :D**

**Sydney: Well, sorta...he lives next door, and our room windows face each other, so...**

**Iris: Aw, well that's no fun! I was hoping for a girly gossip! :(**

**Sydney: One thing you should know about me – I'm not girly. At all :/**

**Iris: That sucks. Well, I'm gonna go. I'm hungry! :P Night! Xxx**

**Sydney: Hahaha okay. Night! Xxx**

I pushed my chair back from my desk, shaking my head.

" 'Sup, Siddy?"

"Just Iris." I answered.

"Iris Martin?" he asked.

"Yup. I told her I was talking to you and she jumped to conclusions. I think she thought we're going out." I said with a laugh.

"Pfft! Me? Go out with you? As if!" he said jokingly. So I decided to play along.

"Yeah, I know. I'd never go out with you. You're not good enough for me! I mean you're not even cute!"

"Ouch. That...That hurt, Sid," he said. He staggered back a step and clutched his chest where his heart was. "You've broken my heart, Sidders."

"Oh, poor Castiel! I'll get you a plaster, make it better." I continued.

"No. Plasters don't work. Hasn't your childhood taught you _anything_? You need to kiss it better," he continued, trying hard not to laugh.

I raised one eyebrow. "Are you implying you want me to kiss your chest? Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't do that on the first date, buddy."

He put on an expression of disappointment. "D*** it. And I'd thought I'd scored, too."

I laughed, and eventually he did too. We talked a bit more then I glanced at the clock. It said it was 11:15. I sighed.

"I'd better get to bed. Night, Cas."

"Okay, I guess I should too. Night Sid."

I closed my window, but left my curtains open. I loved looking at the sky as I was falling asleep. I fell onto my bed and pulled my duvet over me, staring at the stars. But for some reason I felt my gaze being constantly drawn back to Cas' window. Tonight he'd left his curtains open as well, which was weird because he usually shut them at night.

I heard the soft padding of paws on my floor and seconds later the springs in my bed groaned as more weight was put on them. I felt the cold, wet nose and furry muzzle of Max, and I ruffled the fur between her ears. I turned my eyes back to Castiel's window and saw him flopping down on his bed. I closed my eyes, smiling to myself when I realised the last thing I'd see before falling asleep was Cas.

**Castiel's POV**

Sydney and I said our goodnights and I walked over to my bed before falling backwards. I let out a soft grunt as my body collided with the mattress. I glanced at Sid through my window – which I hadn't even bothered closing – and smiled slightly. She'd already fallen asleep, her dog lying next to her. It was a pretty cute sight. Uh...the dog! Yeah, the dog's a pretty cute sight. Yeah, that's what I, uh, meant. I looked at her face one last time before I rolled over and let myself fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**A/N: So, how was it? Y'know how you could tell me? Yeah, you've probably guessed. Review please? o.o I accept any flames, and if anybody spots a problem in any of the chapters I'll do my best to fix it ASAP.**

**I just want to apologise again for the fact that my updates are only weekly, and that it's such a long wait between chapters. But I'm happy you guys seem to be able to be patient, and hopefully I should be able to start updating more regularly soon!**

**And again, _thanks for the reviews! _:D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Castiel's POV**

I heard my alarm go off the next morning and groaned. Without even turning round I thrust my hand behind me and slammed it down on my clock as hard as I could, feeling satisfied when it stopped the constant beeping.

I sat up and yawned. Walking over to my closet I pulled out my Winged Skull shirt. I'd washed it the previous night before I'd went to Sid's. I also found myself another pair of black jeans, ones that had a chain hanging from them. I shoved them on, found a pair of socks and my black shoes and slipped them on too. I wandered downstairs into my kitchen and began frying myself some eggs. I plopped them on a plate and sat down at the table, picking at them absently. I went back up the stairs so brush my teeth and wash my face, before returning to the kitchen and feeding Demon.

"Good boy, Demon. Atta boy." I ruffled the fur just behind his ears. I glanced at my watch. 7:09. Perfect timing. I grabbed my backpack and my electric guitar in its case. The last thing I did before I left the house was pop a piece of gum in my mouth.

I stopped outside our bedroom windows. "Hey, Sid! It's ten past! You ready?" I yelled up in the direction of her room.

"Not quite, go to the door!" I heard her muffled reply through the glass.

"Okay!" I made my way towards Sid's front door and chapped three times.

The door opened revealing Sidders with a toothbrush hanging out her mouth and foamy toothpaste surrounding her lips.

"Come on in," she said round her toothbrush.

"Alrighty then." I went in and lounged on the couch in the living room like it was my own.

I watched her as she walked about the house, brushing her teeth all the while. Eventually she was finished. She, like me, snatched up her bag and electric guitar in its case.

Just as we started to head outside she looked at me, her eyes narrowed. "You got gum?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, why. You gonna snitch about something as small as some gum?"

"Nope. Not if you give me a piece anyway..." she let her voice trail off as she looked at me innocently. I sighed and handed her a piece. We walked on in silence.

When we were about halfway to the school she suddenly piped up. "Have you never thought...passing gum in class is kinda like a version of drug dealing?"

"What?" I asked, taken off-guard.

"Yeah! I mean, we're not allowed it, and we're not supposed to have it yet as soon as somebody has some everybody immediately becomes their friend. You know?"

Oh God. It was gonna be one of _those_ days...

**Sydney's POV**

I grinned to myself as Castiel took on a look of defeat. Mission accomplished. We reached the school and I turned to Cas. "I know we're early, but still. What're you in first?"

"Art, you?" he replied.

"Same. Mr Mckernan?"

"Yup. You got him too?" he asked.

"Yep!" We sat under the tree I was under the day before when Amber had confronted me.

We sat together in companionable silence.

He looked at me. "How come you brought your guitar?"

"Music last." I told him.

"Hey, so do I. Mrs Rafferty?"

"Yep!" I repeated.

"Nice." He leaned back with his arms folded behind his head.

A short while later the bell went, and I suddenly stopped. "Uh, I hope you know how to get to Art, 'cause I have no clue..." He simply smirked and grabbed my hand, dragging me along behind him.

We finally stopped outside the Art class, and then entered together. Thankfully Mr Mckernan was pretty relaxed about seating plans. We could sit wherever we wanted. I, of course sat right next to Castiel. Iris sat across from me, and a boy I didn't know sat across from Cas.

"Sid, this is Lysander," he said, gesturing to the boy in front of me.

"Lys, this is Sydney."

I smiled at Lysander. "Hi, nice to meet you." I said warmly.

"A pleasure to meet you too." he replied, and for the first time I got a good look at his eyes. I gasped. "Your eyes..." I breathed.

"Yes, well, um...I know they are odd and may see strange, but that is a bit of a sensitive subject for m-"

"No, no. They're actually kinda beautiful," I cut him off mid-sentence.

"Oh." He seemed a little taken aback. "Why...thank you."

"No problem." I grinned.

"Alright everyone! I've decided that today you could do a free drawing period. If you don't finish your picture up to my standards by today, however, it shall be given as homework. I expect it to be coloured in, whether that be done with pencils, paints, oil pastels or any other, I still wish it to have colour. Or, if it is a black and white picture it must have tone. Alright, now get all your materials and begin when ready!" The teacher went and sat behind his desk, leaving us to work.

I collected a couple sheets of paper and different pencils. And by different I don't mean different colours. I sat back down and looked around the room hoping for some inspiration.

My mouth quirked up at the sides; I knew what I wanted to draw. I drew my picture as though I was seeing it from the side view, which I actually was. I quickly sketched it out, and then added more detail, switching pencils occasionally. When the bell rang signalling the end of class I felt fairly satisfied with my work. I just had to add some colour and tone, and it would be done.

"What're you in?" I asked Castiel as we gathered our things.

"Gym. What about you?"

"Gym."

"Well that was weirdly easy..."

Once again he grabbed my hand, pulling me with him. He weaved in and out between students and we finally made it into the courtyard and headed towards the gymnasium.

We split up to head to the separate changing rooms and I spat my gum in the bin there. I quickly got changed into tight black shorts, a white top and a dark purple hoodie. I slipped on my black and purple sneakers, grabbed my water bottle and walked through to the gyms. I was the first person there besides the teacher, Mr Aitken.

"Ah, Sydney, is it?"

I nodded in reply. I deftly pulled my hair back into a pony tail.

"Good, good. You look like a proper sport, not like all those other girls who scream when they break a nail." He winked at me.

"Yup. That's me."

We turned as the door opened to reveal Castiel in black baggy shorts and a black wifebeater.

"Yo, Cas!" I greeted him.

"Hey, Siddy," he replied. He grabbed me and pulled me into a playful headlock.

"Hey! Gerroff!" I mumbled through my giggles. I tried to pry off his arms, but it was no use. I grinned to myself and swung my body round, squatting slightly so Castiel would go striaght over my back. Of course, he kept a grip on my neck, so I simply fell with him, landing with my elbow in his stomach. He groaned quietly and I laughed.

"Ah, seems like we've got quite the little fighter on our hands." Mr Aitken remarked. He raised an eyebrow at me and I blushed.

"Um, yes, well...I was actually, uh...I was expelled from my last school for fighting...Sir."

"Hahah! Well, at least it's good to know I've got a girl in my class who isn't afraid of playing dirty."

I brightened up a little. Okay, I think I like my Gym teacher.

As the rest of the class filed in Mr Aitken announced that today's lesson was going to be dodgeball. I noticed the smile he sent my way when he said it, though. He wanted me to show just how tough I was in sports.

He split us into two teams. I was with Iris, Lysander, and a bunch others I didn't know. Castiel was in the opposing team with Amber, Li and Charlotte.

There were six balls spaced out in a line in the middle of the hall, and each of the teams prepared themselves, leaning forward, ready to run.

Mr Aitken blew the whistle and yelled "Go!" and we launched into action.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry I never updated on Friday, I was staying at a friend's on Friday night, and last night too. I only got back home a couple of hours ago actually. But I'm gonna do a double update as an apology, so Chapter 12 will be up soon, promise! :)**

**Castiel's POV**

"Go!" yelled the teacher. Keeping a close eye on Sydney I darted forward and snatched up a ball. I spotted Sid doing the same, so, keeping down low, I chucked my ball at her as hard as I could. She didn't even look at it yet she still managed to dodge it effortlessly. I smirked. This wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. I grabbed another ball and launched it at Iris, hitting her square in the chest. She pouted and stalked off.

I heard a quiet "Oof!" from my team, I glanced around quickly and saw some random kid walking off rubbing the back of his head.

The teams continued 'till the only people left on my team were Amber, Li, and myself. On Sydney's team there was Sid, Lys, and some quiet kid who kept to the back of the hall. I flung a ball at him and hit him on the leg, and he limped off dramatically.

Sid, she threw her ball and managed to get Li on the hip. She walked off, looking back regretfully at Amber. Lys sent the ball flying towards me, but I dodged easily. I picked up that same ball and threw it back at him, catching him on the foot. He made his way to the side of the hall, and I suddenly spotted a ball flying through the air, soaring towards Amber. Siddy had obviously thrown it, she was last on her team. I followed the ball with my eyes as I saw it plant itself right in Amber's face. I felt a weird sense of satisfaction as she walked off, her face bright red and tears flowing down her face.

I suddenly heard a _whoosh!_ as another ball went whistling past my ear. I grinned and dived for the ball, trying to catch her out. We kept it up for about 10 minutes, and just as Mr Aitken drew in a breath to blow the final whistle I felt a thump on my stomach. Ah, cr**...

Sid began dancing on the spot and pumping her fist in the air repeatedly whilst shouting, "I won, I won, I won!"

Completely forgetting the fact that there was an entire class watching I raced over and tackled her, putting her in a sort of headlock, except she was facing up instead of down.

"You seriously wanna go there?" She hissed. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Yeah, but you're facing the other way this time."

"I can still kick. And I fight dirty, so I _will_ happily kick below the belt." she said.

I winced slightly and let go. "Okay, you win this one..." I allowed. I held out my hand and pulled her up. I felt a glare burning into the back of my head so I turned with a glare of my own. I saw Amber shrink back from the intensity of my stare. I then done something I'd never have dreamed of doing to anyone before. I slung my arm round Sidders' shoulders and muttered something about how we'd better go get changed because the bell would ring soon. We walked out of the gym hall together and went our separate ways to go change. I'd never admit it to anyone, but I felt weird tingles going through my arm, like tiny shocks. I headed off to get changed.

**Sydney's POV**

I felt shocks travel along my shoulders when he put his arm around them. As I walked off to change out of my gym clothes I felt all warm and fuzzy. I got changed in a daze. The next lesson or two went past in a blur. At lunch I went to go find him, but he wasn't _anywhere_! I sighed. Maybe I'd see him in Music. I found myself a place to sit, but it seemed strangely quiet and lonely without Cas and his sarcastic remarks. I gloomily ate my lunch and sat on my own. When Music finally rolled around I raced to my class. Cas and I had passed it on our way to Art, and again when going to Gym. I heard a crash then a low groan, and my heart lifted a little. I opened the door tentatively. "Castiel?" I asked. "Is that you?"

"Nawh, just the tooth fairy!" he shot back sarcastically.

"Oh thank God!" I said, my voice full of relief.

"What, were ya scared?" he mocked.

"No. But I was wondering where you'd been all lunch. I was on my own the whole time. But oh well, hearing you hurting yourself just now was almost worth it._ Almost_."

Now, to most people that would sound pretty normal, but I guess Castiel heard the slight loneliness in my voice.

"Sorry." he murmured. He wrapped his arms around me, "C'mere. I'm sorry for just charging off and leaving you all by yourself."

I felt myself freeze, and Cas obviously did too, because he started to pull away.

_No!_ I thought to myself desperately. _No, don't go away..._

I clutched his shirt tighter, so he hugged me back. I felt the small shocks travel all round my body, and I closed my eyes. We were interrupted by a familiar giggling. No, not Amber...Iris?

_Oh God, no! She'll think we go out! Argh._

She opened the door just as we jumped apart. She wiggled her eyebrows at me. I sighed, and Cas and I sat down beside one another before pulling our heavy guitars off our backs.

I studied his guitar, it was a sleek black Gibson Epiphone SG G-400. It was a seriously nice guitar, and I was gonna get jealous until I saw my own guitar again. It was an Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexiglass Electric. It was completely see-through, except for obvious things like the strings and such. I absolutely loved it, it was my pride and joy.

Castiel looked at me. "You play electric too?"

"Yup." I replied. I then played the first few bars of American Idiot by Green Day.

He grinned. "Nice!" he praised.

"Thanks."

Mrs Rafferty walked into the room.

"Okay, class. I think most classes are doing this except Math, but you are free to do whatever you want that is music related, although as no electronic devices may be used in class except calculators and the like, you may not listen to music unless it is music being played by another of your classmates. You may play music, write music, write lyrics _for_ music, or practice singing in the smaller room connected to this. You may sit wherever you want."

Castiel and I stuck together like glue. There were two other people that I knew here: Iris and...Ken.

_Oh boy..._

"Sydney! Oh my gosh, you're in my Music class! I love your guitar! Can you play me a song? I'd love to hear you play me a song. Bet you're pretty good, huh? I bet you are, huh? Oh, please, please, please play me a song! Play that one, oh what is it?! Oh, I can't remember! Oh yeah! Play Grenade! By Bruno Mars! Go on, please, please, please? I'll love you forever!" he begged me.

_What?!_ "You...you want me to play you a f***ing _love song_?!" I choked out.

Castiel suddenly appeared on my right. He'd been off at that particular moment looking through the sheets of music at the front of the class.

"Is this guy annoying you, Sid?" he asked me. He glanced at me, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Sort of, I guess..." I replied almost pathetically.

"Oh, hi! Who are you?" Ken asked. He waved enthusiastically about two inches away from Castiel's nose.

_Here_ we go...

Cas grabbed Ken's wrist, effectively stopping him from waving. "Listen, kid. There's this thing called 'personal space', and you'd better let me have mine. Usually, I won't do anything to the new kids seeing as they're scared enough as it is, but if you keep going on the way you are, or you annoy Sid, well...I'm gonna go against my rule." Castiel practically snarled the last part.

"Um, okay. Can I still talk to Sydney, though? I can, can't I? You can't make me stop talking to her if I want to. You're not always going to be with her...right?" Ken's voice slowly got quieter and quieter.

"Put it this way. I walk to and from school with her. Every class I'm in with her, I'm going to sit next to her if I can. I hang around with her at lunch because she's my best friend. We're neighbours. I think that covers most of the day. If Sid _wants_ you to be there..." he looked down to me and I shook my head vigorously. "...then that's a different story. You got that?"

He nodded frantically. He turned to me timidly and asked, "Sydney, can I talk to you?"

"Sorry, Ken. I'm trying to practice. Plus I'm wanting to try out a new song."

"But-" he began.

Cas moved a little closer to me and draped his arm round my shoulders again, glaring down at Ken. The smaller boy whimpered and made his way to the other side of the room.

Cas and I sat down, and I noticed he still hadn't taken his arm from my shoulders.

Just as I had this thought, however, I felt him move, and I had to hold in a sigh of disappointment. I soon brightened up again, though. He only moved his arm so he could rest it across the back of my chair.

Now, you are probably thinking, "Oh, she likes him! She so likes him!" Well you know what?!

_I think I do._


	12. Chapter 12

**Castiel's POV**

As we sat down I let my arm stay on her shoulders for a second before letting it slip down to rest on the back of her seat. But just before I put my arm on her seat I saw her shoulders slump almost imperceptibly. I placed my arm down, and she seemed to cheer up a little.

"Hey Cas? You know when I said I was gonna try a new song?"

I nodded.

"Well, I was actually gonna play it and I was hoping you could tell me how I did on it?"

"Sure."

She picked up her guitar. "I used to sing his to my sister when Mum and Dad fought, but I've never tried it on guitar."

She played her song softly at first, and I recognized it. It was _You're My Best Friend_ by Queen.

She slowly lifted her head when she'd finished, and her eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

"It was great." I replied simply.

"Thanks. I've always felt this song just sorta...fit. You know? I think it's by Queen." she said. Her voice cracked and I used the arm on the back of her chair to pull her towards me.

"Calm down. You're fine." I murmured. I noticed a few people shooting us weird looks, but one glare from me and they averted their eyes. After a few moments I pulled her back just far enough to look at her.

"You're fine, okay?" I said rather than asked. She nodded slowly. I had noticed by her breathing when I hugged her that she was holding her tears back. She was a tough little cookie and she wasn't going to cry. Looks like we were the same there. Yet that doesn't explain why her heart was going so fast. She started to calm down, but then a worried look appeared on her face.

"Oh, great. Aunt is going to see my red eyes and face. She'll think I've been fighting again."

I thought for a second. "Well...do you want to come to mine for a little while?"

"Sure," she answered without a moment's hesitation.

I looked fairly calm, but I admit on the inside I was blushing at how eager and sure she seemed to be about hanging out with me for a few hours, just the two of us.

"Well, that's that settled then." I smiled down at her. She turned her face up and grinned at me, and I felt much happier suddenly.

As Sid went back to her guitar, playing snippets of different songs here and there, I went back to mine. For some reason a song popped into my mind. My mother used to sing it to me when I was around four. Yes, she did love me, once upon a time, but it all stopped when I turned seven. I don't know why, but it did. My fingers played it automatically and my mouth had a mind of its own as I sang the words under my breath. The song? _I Swear_ by John Michael Montgomery.

I stopped, suddenly realising what the words were. And realising I wasn't thinking of my mother when I played it. Sure, she was the first person I thought of, but her brown hair grew shorter, and turned coal black. Her face shortened and became rounder, and was framed with shiny blue locks of hair. Her golden eyes faded to black, and her small, tight mouth became wider, friendlier. Last to change was her nose, as it became stubbier, a button nose.

It suddenly hit me, the full force of the blow hitting me hard.

_I've never felt as strongly for anyone other than the person I was left with in my mind._

_Sid? Sydney? I love you._


	13. Chapter 13

**Sydney's POV**

I could hear Castiel singing, but I didn't turn round for fear he'd stop. His voice was quiet, like he didn't want anyone to hear, and it was so soothing. He slowed his strumming as the song came to a close, and I turned to look at him. His cheeks suddenly became a slight pink, and I wondered what he was thinking about to make him blush. Just then he sat back and put his arm along the back of my seat again, and I had to stop myself from leaning back into it.

I sat there daydreaming for a while, thinking about Angel. But eventually my mind's eye kept turning towards Castiel and when he hugged me. I was pulled out of my reverie when the bell rang with a loud, sharp_ 'BRING!'_

I knelt down and zipped my guitar into its case again before scooping it and my bag up onto my shoulders. Castiel mirrored my actions beside me, and just as we were about to set off Iris grabbed my arm. She looked to Cas.

"Castiel, would you mind if I stole Sydney from you for a minute?" she asked sweetly.

"Fine. Sid, I'll be waiting at the entrance to the Music department, okay?"

I nodded and directed my attention to Iris and her mischievous smile.

"Are you and Castiel going out?" she asked me once he was out of earshot.

"What?! I-I...I mean...well..." I stuttered, my mind going into complete shock.

"You are!" Iris clapped her hands together and squealed.

"No! We're not! We're best friends, yes, I'll give you that. But we're not dating."

"Really?" She looked pretty sceptical. The raised eyebrow only added to it.

"Really! I promise, scout's honour!" I said quickly.

"Were you even a scout?"

"Yep! I was a Brownie, they're girl scouts, so..."

"Fine. But he so likes you!" she told me excitedly.

"Pfft, nah...he doesn't like me. Why would he anyway? Amber's right, I am just the little emo who cries over a song." I replied. I knew I sounded pathetic, but that's how I felt.

"No you're not!" she said angrily. "You're not! From what I can tell, you're funny, you're smart, you're kind. You're sweet, and you're the perfect mix of girly and tomboy. If you were in a relationship you'd be the perfect girlfriend because you wouldn't let yourself be walked all over, but you wouldn't be too controlling either. You're absolutely beautiful, yet you'd probably deny it every time someone says so. And I _know_ Castiel would love for you to be his girlfriend. So that's what you should do. I think you'd be perfect for him."

_Woah...rant, much? But it was really sweet, and I never knew any of my friends thought that._

"Thanks. So...so maybe I do like him..." Iris opened her mouth to squeal again, but I interrupted her. "_But_ I know he doesn't like me."

"Fine. Be that way. But just remember, I think he does. Now hurry up, your Romeo's waiting." She wiggled her eyebrows and waggled her fingers at me. I simply sighed and waved goodbye before practically running to meet up with Cas.

I found him leaning against the wall next to the entrance to the department, and he raised his eyebrow at me when I came into view.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Nothing, just, um, Math homework."

_What? I've not even_ been_ in Math yet..._

"Yeah, okay," he muttered, but I could tell he wasn't convinced.

We started making our way through the school in the direction of the exit. When we got outside I stopped.

"Give me a minute to call my aunt." I said, and he nodded in response.

I dialled her number and put her on speaker. It rang three times and she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Aunt, it's me."

"Sydney? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Aunt. Just so you know you're on speaker. Just in case you say anything embarrassing."

"Oh, thank you, dear. Who is with you?"

"Castiel." I replied, turning to Cas and smiling.

" 'Sup." he said.

"Oh, hello Castiel. Now, why did you phone, Sydney?"

"I was gonna ask, can I go to Castiel's for a little while?" I crossed my fingers, hoping she'd say yes.

"Alright, dear. But come home first so you can drop off your things." I started cursing silently in my head.

"Um, well, Aunt? Castiel just lives next door, so I could just take my stuff with me, and bring them home when I'm_ coming_ home?"

"No, dear. Just drop them off here, okay?"

_Cr**._

"Okay, Aunt. We'll be home soon."

"Okay, hun. See you soon."

"Bye," I finished shortly.

"Bye, Sydney."

I hung up and looked at Cas. "Is my face still red?"

"No, but you're still a little pink and blotchy."

"Does it look like I've been hit, though?" I asked, panicked.

"Yeah, kind of. There's a big patch on your cheek and it looks like you've been slapped at some point." he replied.

"D***. Okay, I just gotta keep my hair over my face and keep my head down. Maybe have a book out I could pretend to 'study'." I decided.

"Okay..." Cas laughed.

"What?" I asked. I guess I sounded kinda defensive. "It's worked before."

"Okay." He smiled.

When we reached my house I stopped, grabbed a book out my bag, flopped my hair in front of my face and opened the door.

**Castiel's POV**

I watched as she headed into the house, trying not to snicker at her worried expression. Two minutes later I heard yelling. She'd left the door open slightly as she was gonna be coming back out in a few minutes.

"Sydney Valerie Roberts! Have you been fighting _again_? Who hit you?!" shouted her Aunt.

"Nobody!" came Sid's reply.

"Don't you lie to me, young lady. I know when you've been fighting."

"Well obviously you don't. You know, since I've _not been fighting_?"

"Don't get mouthy, Sydney! And if you've not been fighting then just what have you been doing to make your face all pink?"

"I-I..." Sid stuttered.

"I knew it! You _have_ been fighting!" Her Aunt sounded triumphant.

"No!"

"Then _please_ tell me why your face is pink?"

"I...I've been crying, okay?! Is that what you wanted to hear? I didn't want to come home 'cause I _knew_ you'd think I was fighting. It's like this all the time! In fact, half the times I used to come home with a pink face or red eyes wasn't because I was fighting. You happy now?!" Sydney cried, sounding ashamed and upset.

I had to resist the urge to go and calm her down. It's weird, I've never been close enough to someone to feel like that.

"I'm sorry, honey..." her aunt apologised.

"Just...just leave me alone. The reason I never told you I'd been crying was because I don't want your pity. So just let me go to Castiel's okay? And when I get back let's act like this never happened, okay?" I heard her feet on the stairs as she went up to dump her stuff. Two minutes later she appeared at the door again, her face even blotchier. She clutched an old dog-eared sketch book to her chest along with a few pencils, some coloured, some plain. Behind the sketch book was a newer one, the one from school.

"You okay?" I murmured.

She nodded.

I held onto her hand and led her into my house and waited for her to go first.

"What, aren't you gonna go first?" she asked.

"Don't you know your way around, though? 'Cause of your house?" I asked, quoting her from the previous night at her house. She obviously didn't remember.

"It's rude to go first when you're a guest at someone else's." Hmm, maybe she did remember, because I'm sure that's what I said.

"Not when it's your friend's house. I mean, yeah you don't go first at someone else's house, but if it's your _friend's_, well that's a different story." I replied.

She grinned at me and flopped down on my couch. I suddenly remembered something.

"D***." I muttered to myself.

"What's up?" Sid asked, sitting up slightly straighter.

"I forgot. You were meant to be my slave today. Oh well, guess it'll have to wait until tomorrow."

She smiled at me and I mentally congratulated myself for cheering her up.

"I forgot about that, too."

We sat and talked about everything from favourite bands to least favourite animals, and it was really cool being able to be myself without feeling like I'd be judged.

"Hey, can I see your room?"

"Nuh uh, you never let me see your room, I had to charge in and knock you down when you were least expecting it so I could get that d***ed iPod," I replied jokingly.

"Uh...I'll ask Auntie if I can stay here and I'll make you some dinner?"

I thought for a second. The spaghetti had been good. So good I ate it at lunch when I came home to walk Demon. But then again, her aunt made that...Can Sid even cook?

I finally decided, what the hey. If she's a rubbish cook I've got money to order in pizza for us both.

"Fine."

I walked upstairs to my room, hearing Sid following me. I opened my door and walked in, throwing myself on my bed.

I watched her as she looked around my room: my black bed with the Winged Skull logo on the duvet; my grey walls; my black desk with my silver computer on it; my acoustic guitar in the corner. Her eyes stopped at my window. It was usually bare save for my curtains, but today I'd hung up a small ornament I loved as a kid. It was of a cracked, almost broken heart, and it was made of different coloured glass. As the light shone through from outside my room was covered in blues, greens, yellows, reds and purples.

"It's gorgeous..." she breathed. I was suddenly reminded of the rooftop the day before.

"Yeah."

"Nice room," she said. She flopped down on my bed next to me.

"Thanks," I replied honestly.

She laid out her old sketch book and picked up her school one along with her coloured pencils. I lifted her old sketch book and looked at her for permission. She stiffened and I began to put it down again, but she nodded her head twice.

As I leafed through it I stopped at a tear-stained page on which a young girl was drawn. She looked to be about six and had golden curls and big blue eyes. She was really pretty, and I wondered why Sid was crying when she drew it.

"That was my sister. She...she died this Summer." Sid said, answering my unasked question.

I then remembered Amber saying that it was Sid's fault her sister died. I felt my blood boil and I saw red.

"Castiel?" I heard her ask, but I ignored her. All I could think of was that b**** making Siddy break down yesterday. "C-Cas...? Castiel?" I felt her rest her small hand on my arm. I forced myself to calm down and turned to her. She looked worried, and was that...fear I saw in her eyes?

_Way to go,_ idiot_! You like a girl, so what do you do? You go and totally f*** it up!_

"Sorry. I was thinking of something else. H...how did she die?" I asked gently.

"Oh, uh...she...she died of cancer," she told me.

I just held her to me, knowing that she wasn't the type of girl who wanted "I'm sorry's", knowing she'd see it as pity.

_Woah,_ I thought._ This girl is gonna turn me into a total softie, isn't she?_

We sat on my bed for a while as I watched Sid finish whatever she'd decided to draw for Art, before going downstairs to watch TV, with me resting my arm on the back of the couch behind her head. She looked at me and smiled as I did this, and I thought, _Maybe this whole 'having a crush' thing isn't so bad._


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey, sorry I never updated last night, my friend and I went to go see the American Idiot musical, and may I just say I thought it was _epic_! :) So I'm sorry, but I stayed up until about two o'clock last night doing homework, and I never had the time to update, so I had to wait until today.**

**Castiel's POV**

When dinner rolled around Sid stood up and made her way into the kitchen, and a few minutes later I heard quiet clatters as she searched through the fridge and cupboards for different stuff. I wandered in, and she looked up.

"Mince and mashed potato okay with you?" she asked.

"Yep. Thanks. It's weird how I buy this stuff even though I wasn't taught how to make proper meals, and I usually just get TV dinners. And now that I say that I realise how dumb and pathetic that sounds."

"No it doesn't. The only reason I know how to cook is because at my old school the girls did one period of Gym a week. The boys got three. During the two periods of Gym we didn't get we had to do cooking, and it _sucked_. I wanted to be out on the football pitch, tackling guys and getting covered in mud. I wanted to be outside doing something energetic, but instead I had to be in a boiling hot room learning how to make fish pie. Figures, huh?" she turned to me, her eyes large and round.

"Pfft!" I scoffed. "You? _Cooking_?! Nah, I can't picture it. I mean, you in an apron? Nawh!"

"Yeah, I know, right?" she replied. Now, most girls would find it offensive that I was laughing at the thought of them cooking, but Sid just totally agreed. "Thankfully I finally managed to get my mum to write in a note insisting I got all three periods of Gym." She smiled smugly.

"Lucky."

"Yeah."

She turned back to chopping up the mince and then frying it, or whatever it is you do. I don't know, and I didn't care to learn. So instead of paying attention to how she prepared dinner I focused on her face, watching as the different emotions crossed her face. I saw her expression move from determination to confusion, to mild annoyance, and it finally settled on frustration.

"Do you not have a potato masher?" she asked. I shrugged; how was I supposed to know?

"Okay, looks like I'll have to make do with a fork," she said, exasperation clear in her voice.

I smirked at her, sure that the amusement I felt was shown on my face. I seemed to be right as she mock glared at me.

I held my hands up in a surrender position, chuckled quietly to myself and headed into the living room.

**.:'*':.:'*':.:'*':.:'*':.**

After we finished our food – which was delicious, by the way – Sid walked into the kitchen again. I heard her opening the fridge and searching through the cupboards, so I followed after her to see what she was up to.

"Hey, you wanna make cookies?" she asked. "You've got all the ingredients – chocolate, flour, eggs, butter, sugar, milk, the full works."

"Sure, but I don't know how..." I replied.

"Oh, it's easy! I'll show you."

I agreed, so a few minutes later we washed our hands and started on the cookies.

"Well, you're quite the cook. You know, I don't think you should do anything to do with sports for your career. You'd make the _perfect_ housewife," I teased her. She replied by sticking her tongue out and flicking flour at me. I ginned at her.

"Oh no you didn't..." I began.

"Oh, but I did."

I grinned again as I lifted a handful of flour from the bag.

**Sydney's POV**

I watched with slight trepidation as Castiel slowly pulled his hand from the bag. His hand was now filled with flour.

_Oh God, what have I done?!_

"...You wouldn't..." I told him, warning in my voice.

"Oh, but I would."

And with that he flung the flour at me. I tried to dodge, but he still caught my side.

"Argh!" I covered both hands in flour, before cupping them and filling them with the stuff. I leaned over and clapped my hands on his cheeks, dropping most of the flour on the floor when I separated my hands. His face was now completely white, save his eyes and eyebrows.

He chuckled and grabbed more flour, running his fingers through my hair and effectively coating it.

I decided to go for his first tactic and launched a handful of the flour at his face. The hair framing his face went from scarlet to snow white, and his eyelashes and eyebrows were covered in the stuff.

I looked down at the floor for a second then stopped.

"Aw, man!" I half whined.

"What?" I felt Castiel's questioning gaze on the top of my head.

"We gotta clean this cr** up!" I glanced up at him as he looked around the kitchen, a sigh slipping from between his lips when he realised I was right.

"Fine. But I'll start on the floor and _you_ can sit up here." He hoisted me up and sat me on the counter. I pouted.

"What, you think that just 'cause I'm a girl I can't do any work?" I complained.

"Uh...yup pretty much..." I shot him a look and noticed he was smirking at me. I rolled my eyes and hopped down from the counter, until he stopped me, grabbing my waist and shoving me back up.

"Grr..." I growled quietly in frustration.

I looked above me and noticed that the cupboards were covered in flour too, so I lifted a sponge from the sink and started scrubbing it off as it became gloopy due to the water. I felt something grab my wrist and I clenched my teeth, turning to glare at Castiel. I _was_ going to help clean up, whether he liked it or not.

"Look, just...let me." he told me.

"N-" I began, but Castiel cut me off.

"You just won't let this go, will you?" he asked.

"Nope," I said cheerfully. "Now, where was I?" I turned myself back to the cupboards, raising my hand as I did so.

"Wait-" he began.

"_What_?!" I asked. I could hear the annoyance in my voice.

He leaned in toward me, and I felt myself freeze.

"I just wanted to do this..." he breathed.

My mind went blank, like it had totally shorted out.

Okay, I bet all you guys were thinking it was gonna be a cutesy little love scene, right? Nuh uh, you're wrong! Sorry to burst your bubble.

He suddenly pulled his hands up towards my face and clapped them on my cheeks, completely smothering my face in the powdery white flour.

"Oh, uh...you've got a little something, _right_...here," he said sarcastically, gesturing to my whole face. He smirked slightly and I scowled in reply.

"Gee, thanks. Love you too..." I muttered, more to myself than to him.

He simply sniggered.

"Anyway..." I spun round and continued my scrubbing, hearing him sigh in defeat behind me.


	15. Chapter 15

**Castiel's POV**

I almost forgot that Sid was my servant for today. I mentally thanked her for reminding me.

I watched her head off to the girls' room before turning to get changed into my P.E. kit. I could still hear the rest of the guys talking about how hot or cute she was and I felt sick. She was my best friend, and I actually liked her, as in _liked_ her liked her. These guys know nothing about her, and Sid was right in the way she put it: they really did talk about her as if she was nothing but a trophy. Just a prize to be won, just something to show off and be looked at. Something you get once and then move on to winning another.

I ground my teeth and made my way through to the gymnasium, only to find we were working outside today. I walked out towards the football pitch we usually meet up at and barely heard the tail end of Mr Aitken's talk.

"...boys will be doing track and girls will be doing dancing or cheer-leading, whichever they prefer."

I grinned at the thought of Sidders dancing. I glanced over at her and saw her angry expression. Jeez, you'd think they'd asked her to do something – ahem – inappropriate. I met up with her, and then had to follow her as she stormed off in the direction the teacher was going. As we caught up I heard her asking in an annoyed voice whether she could join the boys in doing track.

"No, Sydney. I'm sorry, but the rules say that girls and boys should be split up for any outdoor activities."

"Please, sir," Sid pleaded. I suddenly had a vision of her holding out a bowl and saying, "Please, sir, can I have some more?" Just like Oliver in Oliver Twist.

"Please, I hate dancing, or at least dancing with girls. Why do we need to be split up?"

"I can't allow you to work with the boys. You must be split up because boys tend to get rougher and more violent when they have all the space of the 'great outdoors'." Mr Aitken replied, using air quotes when he said the last two words.

I had to struggle not to chuckle as I saw Sid jut out her bottom lip and pout.

"Fine, but you'll regret it when you see how bad I am at the type of dancing they do." She looked at me and noticed I was extremely amused. "I don't know what you're so happy about, sunshine. I'll just throw rocks at your window tonight and maybe chuck eggs at your door." She winked.

I waved my hands toward the group of retreating girls. "Go, slave, go and do your dancing. If I feel you should join us I shall request it from our teacher."

I saw a betrayed look reach her eyes and she placed her hand to her chest in mock pain.

"How-how could you do this to me, Castiel? I thought we were friends!"

"Off you go."

She sighed and trailed behind Amber, Li and Charlotte, finally accepting the fact that she'd have to dance.

**.:'*':.:'*':.:'*':.:'*':.**

I squinted at the group of dancers, my eyes immediately finding Sidders. She was actually a pretty good dancer, but a scowl never left her face. I decided she'd suffered enough and jogged over to our teacher.

"Sir, can Sydney do track? She looks really fed up, borderline depressed, even."

He smiled at me. "Sure, but _you're_," he pointed at me, "going to get her. I'm not risking an attack."

"Thanks." I told him sarcastically. I headed off, stopping next to Sid.

"Come, slave, I have requested that you join us, I will save you from your doom." I grabbed her wrist and directed her to the running track.

"Hey, just 'cause I'm your servant today doesn't mean you should talk all weird like," she complained.

"Sid?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Oh ha ha." She drawled lazily.

We stood beside one another at the starting line. I knew I would beat her, I'm the fastest runner in our year.

"Bet I can beat you!" I told her cheerfully.

"Really? Bet I'll win!" She retorted.

"Okay, then. 3...2...1...GO!" I yelled. We shot off at the same time, running neck and neck until I slowly began to pass her.

We were only doing the 100m sprint, so I knew I only had to run for, oh, around 12, 13 seconds maybe? I pushed myself, my legs pumping, my feet slapping the ground, and my muscles tensed until they felt hard as steel.

I turned to look at Sydney, trying to see how far behind me she was, and she was _right _behind me, maybe only a step slower than I was. I face the front again and sped up, hearing her do the same. Soon, I crossed the line, her just one step behind.

She may not have been that far behind, but it was enough. I'd won.

"I win!" I shouted triumphantly, watching her disappointed face.

I had to admit, she put up a good fight, better than anyone else in our year. I guess she had good reason for being so confident she'd beat me.

"D*** it, I thought I had that one..." she murmured to herself.

We continued to race, and I found she was a better runner than I'd thought. By the end of the period we had won the same amount of races.

We crossed the pitch and I called the teacher over.

"Sir!"

He pause and waited for us to catch up.

"Yes, Castiel?"

"If she wants to, could Sydney join the running team? I think she'd be a great addition."

He looked to Sid. "Would you like to go to team try-outs?" he asked.

I interrupted her. "She doesn't need try-outs, sir, she's good, believe me."

"Yes, I do believe you, but just how good is she?" He didn't look convinced.

"Well, put it this way. We tied on the amount of races we won this period."

He swung his gaze back to her. "You beat him?"

"Yup." she confirmed, playfully elbowing me.

"Well, then. Would you like to join the team?"

"Uh, sure, I guess so." she replied.

"Good, I think we can finally get rid of Dylan. What a relief, he wasn't especially good anyway, he was just the best out of the rest of the year. And that isn't really much of an accomplishment. So, welcome to the team, Sydney."

**Sydney's POV**

I felt happy at the fact that I was part of a team already, but who was Dylan?

"Dylan?" I asked aloud.

"What about him?" Castiel replied.

"Who is he?"

"The sleaze ball from the changing rooms," he explained.

Satisfaction took over. So I'd managed to get him booted off the team? Great!

"Right...anyway, I'm gonna go get changed. What're you in next?"

"Math," Cas answered.

"Me too. Joy."

Once I was changed – and yes, I went to the correct changing room this time – I headed out, spotting Cas standing waiting on me.

"Yo," I greeted simply.

"Yo yourself." He replied just as simply.

We walked to Math, chatting about everything and anything. When we reached the department Castiel stopped.

"Who's class are you in?"

"Um...hang on..." I fished through my bag for my timetable, eventually yanking it out. "Miss Tosh, apparently."

"Right, you're in the class next to me. I've got Mr Rice, he's okay. But seems you're out of luck with Miss Tosh." he informed me, leading the way to her class. "This is your stop. Good luck, you'll need it."

"Gee, thanks..." I answered gloomily, pushing open the door.

The teacher inside turned to glare at me. "Go outside and knock this time!" she barked. I rolled my eyes and did as she said.

I knocked once. There was no answer. I waited for a while before finally just entering the classroom.

"You will wait outside until I tell you that you may come in!" she yelled at me.

"But I knocked!" I replied pathetically.

"Do it again!"

"Fine."

I stalked out, closed the door and knocked. Again. No answer. Again. So I knocked a third time. Still no answer. I gave up and pushed open the door.

"What did I tell you!" Miss Tosh screamed.

"I give up!" I threw up my hands and stomped out of the class, slamming the door behind me. I went all the way out to the courtyard, sitting under the tree where I played Vanilla Twilight on my first day. I pulled out my iPod and shoved my headphones into my ears, deciding I wanted to listen to Falling In Reverse.

I relaxed as the first few lines of The Westerner played, sounding amazing.

I closed my eyes and rested my head on the tree at my back. Next song on my FIR playlist was Sink Or Swim. Bliss.

I listened to the whole album, all 11 songs, before I heard footsteps heading in my direction. What now? I opened my eyes, spotted a flash of scarlet and closed them again.

"Hey, Cas." I muttered.

"Hey, heard Miss Tosh shouting at you earlier. I also heard you shouting back and slamming the door."

"Yup."

"Nice..." he began, but he stopped. "And don't look now, but here's Nat coming to get you into bother."

I groaned thumping my head off the tree twice.

"Sydney, just what did you think you were doing?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Castiel's POV**

I watched as Nathaniel approached Sid, looking ticked off.

"Sydney, just what did you think you were doing?" he asked, sounding very irritated.

"Leaving Math, I thought _that_ was fairly obvious..." she responded, trying to annoy him even more.

"You have disrespected a teacher, and slammed a door. That is unacceptable!"

"Well, if you find that unacceptable then why did you guys let me in this school? I mean, shouting wasn't exactly the worst thing I did..."

"That's it! Report for detention tomorrow afternoon immediately after school!"

"Aw, do I _have_ to?" Sid whined.

"Yes!" Nat said exasperatedly.

"Yay, this is absolutely _great_," she muttered to herself.

Nathaniel stalked off, his face slightly more purple than usual. A grin slowly slid onto my face as I turned to Sidders, who was sitting looking very annoyed.

"Hey, Sid?"

She looked at me. "Yeah?"

"I command you to be a total suck-up to Nat for the rest of the school day. Every time you see him, you compliment him. Ask to carry his books and things like that. If he asks you a favour, do it straight away," I told her, unable to stop myself from snickering at the end.

Her mouth suddenly formed a little O and true anger flashed in her eyes. "_What?!_"

"You heard me, slave."

"Arg, d*** you..." I could practically see her cursing in her head.

"Now, go. Go apologise for doing that in Math."

"What? I'm not gonna apologise for something when I don't feel I'm in the wrong!"

"Yes, you are," I chuckled. "I'll go with you if you're too shy to talk to him yourself." I made a big show of standing up then I turned round and held out my hand to help her.

"Yeah, you _are_ coming with me. I get the feeling that if you didn't you would spend the time sitting there thinking up more horrible stuff for me to do."

Okay, she was right there...

I pulled her up beside me and led her to the Student Council room, knowing the student prez would be there.

I walked in without knocking, knowing it would get on Nathaniel's nerves.

"Castiel, what do you want?" he asked, sounding calm yet impatient if that makes sense.

"Nothing. Sydney, on the other hand..." I let my voice trail off as I gestured to her. She seemed to be doing exactly what Nat was doing. When she spoke she was calm, but it sounded as if she was forcing herself to be calm.

"Nathaniel? I'm sorry about being cheeky to Miss Tosh, and I'm sorry for leaving the class and slamming the door. I hope it won't happen again."

The Student President raised one eyebrow. "You _hope_?"

"I-I mean, uh...I mean it _won't_ happen again," she replied, but I saw her cross her fingers behind her back.

"Alright. Well I'm sorry for getting mad, but it is unheard of that a student would storm out of a classroom. I won't make you go to detention _this_ time, I'll let you off with a warning. But next time you won't be so lucky."

Wait, did Nathaniel just apologise? _Nathaniel?_ Wow. I mean I know Sid said sorry too, but then again I made her.

"No it's okay, you wouldn't have gotten mad if I hadn't done it. And thanks."

When the boy looked down at the papers on his desk I nudged Sid and mouthed the words, "Compliment him."

She turned around just before she opened the door to leave. "And, Nat?" she asked. He looked up at her. "Do you wear contacts?"

"No, why?" the president asked. He sounded bewildered.

"Oh, nothing. Just your eyes are a really nice colour, a warm gold like syrup."

"Well, thank you. Nobody's ever said anything like that." he told her. His golden 'syrup-like' eyes softened and I felt slightly jealous.

Sidders flashed him a smile, waved, then headed out, pulling me along behind her. When we got to the courtyard again she turned to face me and groaned. "Why did you make me do that?! I'm not gonna have to do that again, am I?"

"Yup."

"Joy."

**Sydney's POV**

"Joy," I said sarcastically.

I mean it was cruel to lead Nat on when I obviously like Castiel, right? Right.

I glanced at the redhead, and spotted that his roots weren't red. They were coal black.

"That isn't your natural hair colour, is it?" I asked.

"No, it's actually black. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno, I just think you need to get your roots done," I replied.

"Oh. Well is black _your_ natural hair colour? I know the blue obviously isn't."

"Nope. I'm actually blonde, but I am most certainly _not_ dumb."

He squinted at me. "You sure about that?" he joked.

"Thanks. You're a great friend, Cas." I bumped his arm with my shoulder, shoving him a little.

He looked at me then bumped me back.

He bumped me back? Okay. This was war.

I smiled and put out one arm, giving a hard push. He stumbled a bit, but regained his balance and pushed me back. I took a quick peek behind him and grinned evilly. Our mini fight continued and I slowly began to gain a bit of ground, pushing him further and further back. Eventually I slipped my foot behind his and gave him an almighty shove. He tripped over my leg and went backwards, landing right in Amber's lap.

I had been directing us over to the benches, where I had seen Amber sitting talking to Li and Charlotte. Her body was facing us but her head wasn't, so she didn't see us approaching her.

Her breath left her with a 'whoosh' when Cas landed on her. She quickly regained her composure, though, and flicked her hair over her shoulder. She looked down at my friend struggling to get up so he could kill me.

"Castiel! Hey, I didn't see you there!" she said, twirling her hair round one finger.

So she _liked_ him, did she? Why did I suddenly hear an evil laugh in my mind? Mwahahahaha!

"I'm gonna kill you, Sid! Just remember, I know where you live. You better sleep with one eye open tonight!" Castiel threatened, but the whole menacing thing wasn't really working. He looked like a turtle on its back trying to get up as he pulled away from Amber. And did he sound like a stalker? Methinks so.

"Lovely. But, the only way to kill someone is to catch them. Shall we race?" I challenged.

"You're on." He finally managed to stand up, and he swatted away Amber's hand. She'd stood up with him and had tried to hold onto his arm, but he wasn't having any of it. Why did I feel so pleased that he rejected her?

_I know I like him, but am I really going to let myself get jealous? Apparently so..._

"First one to our tree and back?" he asked.

I suddenly felt a rush of happiness. It wasn't his tree, it wasn't my tree. It was _our_ tree.

"3...2...1...GO!" he yelled. I stupidly stood there for a second before I ran after him.

"Oi, no fair! I wasn't ready! CAS!" I shouted.

"Too bad!"

I laughed and sped up, managing to catch up with him. We ran side by side for a split second before he started inching ahead, so I, of course, kicked it up a notch. We tapped the tree at the same time, and simultaneously turned and sped back towards Amber. I turned to Castiel.

"Cas!"

He looked at me.

"Come on," I said, winking and nodding towards the blonde girl and her posse.

He smirked and nodded in agreement. We pushed ourselves faster, but still making sure we stayed beside one another. I held out my hand and he grabbed it (I of course tried to ignore the tingles I felt making their way up my arm), just before we reached our starting place.

Together, with our arms out, we crashed into Amber, knocking her backwards so she landed on her butt in the dirt. She sat there gaping at us for a second. Then the laughing started. It rippled through the courtyard, slowly getting louder and louder as every student outside joined in.

Meanwhile Cas and I were bent double with our hands on our knees, gasping for breath as we laughed out loud. We kept going for a while before we then realised everyone was looking at us.

Oh yeah. I'd forgotten that Castiel didn't laugh quite so much at school. Whilst this was normal behaviour to just us, it was completely alien to the others. Well, this is awkward.

We exchanged glances and stood up straight, dusting imaginary dirt off our shirts as we did so. I looked over at Amber. She stood up stiffly, patting her butt to make sure it wasn't dirty, and stalked off in the direction of the school, presumably so she could go tattle on us to her brother. What she didn't know was that there actually was a big patch on her jeans, a big patch of mud that she hadn't felt.

I tried not to snort (and failed miserably) as I asked Castiel what he was in.

"Art. Same as you. Remember?" he told me.

Oh yeah. I forgot I had Art. I'm just glad I picked up my sketch book. I'd only brought it so I could doodle in it when I was bored.

"Right." I winked at him. "Okay, well I bet the bell's gonna go in 5...4...3...2...1...now."

_Briiiiing!_

Yes. I am just that good.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sydney's POV**

We made our way up to Art, pushing our way through the crowd of people going the opposite way. In fact, so focused were we on getting through we almost went straight past our class. Once we'd backtracked and actually got into the classroom we sat down at our group with Lysander and Iris. Mr McKernan looked up from the drawings he was grading.

"Alright, class. Today you will continue working on the piece you started yesterday, the one I issued for homework?"

People nodded their heads as they grabbed their books.

"Now, I don't mind you talking, but keep it fairly quiet, okay?"

After a chorus of yes's, sure's, and okay's the teacher went back to grading. I fished about in my bag until I found my sketch book, yanked it out and walked up to his desk.

"Sir? I've finished my drawing."

He glanced at me. "Already? Have you added colour or tone?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yep, what will I do today then?"

"Let me see."

I handed him the jotter and he looked at it. "Ah, so you decided to draw that? My favourite vase. I must say this is an excellent drawing." He gave me back my picture before continuing. "Today you can just draw whatever you want again, and if you don't finish it in class – which I doubt you will – you'll do _that_ for homework."

I sat down next to Castiel again and contemplated over what I would draw.

I then decided I would draw...something.

Okay, yes, I was gonna draw Cas. Cue girlish squeal. Not from me, oh no, but probably from whoever is reading this little story.

Again I drew my picture so it was from the side view. My reason for that being that I _[i]was[/i]_ seeing Cas from the side view, right?

I sketched carefully,trying to get every little detail. I only wanted to have from his shoulders up in the picture, so I had to try and space it out right. I drew in his hair, the way it curled slightly at the tips, before moving on to his face (I had already sketched out the shape of the collar of his leather jacket). His slate grey eyes, his straight nose, his soft mouth. I felt my eyes linger on his lips for a second.

I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to lean in closer to him, but instead I shot my hand up in the air and almost shouted across the class to the teacher.

"Sir, may I please be excused?!"

"Yes. Take this pass. Wait, let me sign it first...alright, here you go, Sydney."

I pretty much snatched the pass from his hand as I left the classroom and staggered down to the girls' bathroom.

**Castiel's POV**

Worry and concern laced my thoughts as I watched Sid hurry off. What was up with her? Was she okay? I ended up shrugging it off thinking it was probably just 'that time of the month'.

I noticed she'd left all her stuff behind, including her sketch book. It was lying open on her desk with her pencil sitting on the blank page next to the one that had her picture on it.

And the picture, it was of...me?

She'd drawn me as I was now, just sitting focusing on the page below me. It was an amazing drawing, but why did she choose to draw me? Of course, not that I didn't expect someone to draw me, what with my outrageously dashing good looks. Ha – not.

I sat there for the rest of the period, virtually twiddling my thumbs since Sidders wasn't there to joke around with. As soon as the bell went signalling end of class I shot out of my seat and raced out of the room, heading down to the girls' toilets. No, I'm not perverted. I wanted to just check if she was okay. The toilets I went to were the one in Gym. Or should I say, it wasn't the girls' toilets; more like the girls' _toilet_. There was one toilet for the girls and one for the boys in the P.E. base, and when I reached the girls' one I stopped, listening to make sure it was the right girl in there.

Sure enough, the quiet sound of someone hyperventilating on the other side of the door seemed familiar.

Was it weird I could tell it was her by the sound of her breathing? Yes. Did I care? Nope.

"Sid?"

Suddenly the person in the bathroom held their breath, all sounds cutting off abruptly.

"Cas?"

Thank God she was okay. I thought she'd maybe passed out from lack of air. I mean, she _had_ been breathing pretty quickly, and it sounded as if her breaths were quite shallow too.

"Hey, Siddy. Can I come in?"

I heard a soft gulp, followed by an, "Okay."

There was a quiet _click!_ as she unlocked the door. I pushed open the door, slipping round and closing it again behind me. It was then that I found out the girls' Gym toilet was even smaller than the boys'. It was about the size of a cubicle, maybe a couple of inches larger, and bearing in mind this had a sink in it? Yeah, it was tiny.

Sydney was sitting on the toilet with a red face, except she didn't look embarrassed. It looked more like slight panic. Now what would make her panic?

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling too great."

I had a feeling that was a lie, and that was such a lame excuse.

"Come on, Sidders, you and I both know that isn't true." I raised one eyebrow at her questioningly.

_Why won't she tell me what's up?!_

**Sydney's POV**

What. The._ H***_. Is up with me?

One second I'm drawing, and the next I'm leaning in toward Castiel!

Bad Sid. _Bad_ Sid!

He was the one who nicknamed me that. Wow, I never thought about that until now...

I'm getting off _topic_!

Okay, focus.

I heard quiet footsteps heading towards the door in front of me, stopping right outside it.

"Sid?"

Oh God, speak of the devil.

I felt my breathing stop, cutting off completely.

"Cas?"

I heard what sounded like a sigh of relief before he continued.

"Hey, Siddy. Can I come in?"

I gulped and quietly said, "Okay," unlocking the door as I did so. Castiel's scarlet head popped round the door. He slid in, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. He studied me for a minute before asking if I was okay.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling too great," I answered honestly. Okay, well maybe not totally honestly, but I wasn't feeling great. That didn't necessarily mean I felt ill, right?

"Come on, Sidders, you and I both know that isn't true," he said, looking at me, eyebrow raised and everything.

D***.

"Look, it's nothing, it doesn't matter. 'Kay?"

"Fine..." he said, sounding very unconvinced.

"Thanks." I let my breath out in a loud sigh, letting myself relax a little.

"Come on, you get cleaned up, or...whatever girls do, and I'll wait out in the courtyard, cool?"

I smiled. "Cool."

Once he'd left I rinsed my face with cold water, dried off and made my way up to the hallway leading out to the courtyard.

And bumped into – guess who? Yep, you're probably right – Amber, Li and Charlotte.

"Hey, look who's here," Amber sneered, "Well that's the word around here. Let's see, what do I have here in my locker?"

I watched as she yanked a photo out of her locker. And guess what? Bet you're right again.

It was my ID photo. And she'd decided to doodle on it, drawing on a moustache and a bunch of other scribbles.

"But...But that's me! That's the picture I got for my enrolment." I cursed in my head for sounding so wimpy.

"You don't seem to be very photogenic! Do you want another one? Hold on, we've got plenty."

She tossed a handful of pictures at me, a couple of them hitting my face. I watched with horror as they fell to the floor.

"...You did this?"

"By the way, now that you're enrolled, don't start going after Nathaniel!"

She shot me a glare before turning on her heel and flouncing off.

I stood there grumbling to myself for a little longer before heading out to see Cas.

He must've realised I was not in a very happy mood and grinned. Oh, so he was gonna try annoying me more?

Gee, I feel so loved.


End file.
